Aria in Iceland
by MTgivens
Summary: This follows the year where Aria is in Iceland, following her father's affair. She unfolds a mystery and has only herself and memories of Ali to guide her. Note: this only follows the show, not the books. Also, some things are a little different.
1. Chapter 1

AII

Aria in Iceland

The plane landed, and the headphones from the Apple iPod mini, jostled in Aria's ear. She had anticipated the landing, but it had been much rougher than she had predicted. As the enormous jet skidded on the Icelandic runway, her fingers were clasped around the armrest of her seat.

"Take it easy," her father said to her from the next seat. "It's perfectly normal."

She turned to him for a second, and then turned away. She tried not to look at her father. When her eyes gazed upon his, she saw two faces: the face of her father, and the face of a blonde woman that was sucking on his tongue.

The blonde woman wasn't her mother. She was also not the wife of her father, but instead merely a cheap squeeze that had crawled her way into her life.

And now they were in Iceland, a new people to her and a new language to learn.

As the blonde woman had crawled her way in, Aria and her dark-haired father had crawled their way out.

They even left the country and were now under the Nordic Cross in a tiny island more desolate and isolated than the average penal colony.

Before Aria had felt like a teenage girl, an ordinary girl with ups and downs. She had friends that were irritating, but also extremely reliable, such as Ali, Emily, Spencer, and Hannah.

They had been so close, but there was something different with her friendship with Ali, for with Ali there was a feeling that bonded them all together.

The five of them had been inseparable, but then everything had changed. People had fallen off the face of the earth; others had reverted back into silence and solitude, and then there was Aria,

The one who had flown across the cold North Atlantic to a nation that was new to her in many bizarre ways.

After collecting her bags, her father and her exited the airport into the winds of Iceland.

II.

Aria stood next to her father, as they waited for a car to drive them to downtown Reykjavik.

"This is kind of nice," he mentioned to her.

"My feet are cold," she responded.

"Are you still upset with me?" He asked.

"Did you really just ask that?" Aria responded with a question of her own.

"Right," her father answered, knowing that defeat would follow if he pursued any further.

A man walked up next to them to wait for a car, and Aria looked at him as she felt a sense of discomfort. Her eyes quickly scanned his body and clothing quickly. His facial features looked like an Asian man, but there was something different about him.

His hair was black as the winter's night, but his skin was light. His clothes stood out surprisingly, for they were so simple. There was as black overcoat that ran along his body. It had metal buckles running up and down, almost as if he was out of the "Blade Trilogy." His shirt was also black underneath, and there were two leather belts that ran along his chest, which Aria could not see any more of.

The man looked as if he was might have also been out of a kung fu movie, so she turned away quickly. She had the slight fear that he would pull a sword out of his overcoat and cut her down if she stared too much.

A car emerged from the distance of the terminal and wheeled up in front of them. The man in the overcoat did not hesitate to cut in line, and hop inside the car before Aria and her father could notice.

"Hey, anyone taught you how to act in public?" Her father shouted in English; although, he was fluent in Icelandic. "So that was Nordic hospitality at it's finest."

"It's fine dad," said Aria as she noticed something her father missed.

A piece of notebook paper had fallen from the man's pocket as he had jumped swiftly into the car.

Aria took a step forward and picked it off the asphalt.

"Aria, leave it alone," her father instructed.

"I was just preventing littering," she bluffed. "Forgive me for caring about the environment."

Aria folded the paper into her pocket without a glance, pretending she wasn't interested.

III.

Two hours later, Aria sat in a new room, in a new house where her father had relocated them. Their home was on the outskirts of Reykjavik, in a mildly suburban townhouse, overlooking many other mildly suburban townhouses.

This was the first time Aria was alone, and she sat down on her new uncomfortable bed in the blank room.

She unfolded the paper, the man in black had dropped and finally read it over.

"Sunrise: 9/15/09: Honor will triumph: Do not Focus on the Darkness."

That series of words was followed by Chinese characters, which there was no chance she could recognize.

Aria checked her phone, and saw that the date was 9/14/09.

IV

Four minutes in Iceland, and already things had become weird. It was weird enough to almost forget all the things that had happened between her father and her friends. But there was one thing she could net let go of.

Her friend Alison.

Ali was in her mind right now. She was wondering. What would Ali do?

Aria began to imagine Ali sitting in the room right next to her. Aria was on the bed, and Ali would be standing in front of the door.

_"You know what you want Aria," she would say. _

"What's that?" Aria asked.

_"You're going to go find him," Ali continued. _

"I can't do that," countered Aria. "All it says is the date, something about honor and the sunrise. I don't even know where to begin."

_"Tisk tisk Aria," Ali teased. "You know you're going to go. You can't keep away. You're just as bad a race dog chasing a metal rabbit." _

Aria knew there was some truth in that.

"Where do I find him?" She asked.

_"Read the note again," Ali would say._

"Sunrise: 9/15/09: Honor will triumph: Do not Focus on the Darkness," Aria read out loud.

_"What do you see?"_

"The word Focus is capitalized when it shouldn't be," said Aria. "So is the word Darkness. All the capitals are Sunrise: Honor: Do Focus Darkness."

_"That doesn't make any sense now does it?"_

Aria could practically hear Ali's voice as she imagined her guiding these instructions.

"Focus Darkness," Aria went to back to square one.

_"Good girl," Ali teased. "First, look at it in a different way. Now find out what it means in Icelandic. Then, Google it on your phone." _

"Wow," Aria almost exclaimed. "Good thinking Ali. I mean, thanks."

Just then Aria had realized the room was empty, but it had felt so real. The memories of Ali were just so real.

Aria grabbed her newest phone, which was customized for the nation of Iceland. She translated the words to "Einblína Myrkrinu." Then, as she searched nothing came up.

As she thought it over, she knew Ali wanted her to look things over differently.

Aria then typed in the words "Dark Focus," which lead her to "Dimma Fokus."

"Dimma Fokus," she read to herself. "Sounds like screwed up English."

The search on Google-Iceland led her to the name of a Tattoo parlor. The destination of the man in black had been revealed. He was to meet someone at the tattoo parlor at sunrise.

And she never would have known without Ali.

But Ali wasn't in the room. She was gone, lost and disappeared. Then, why did it feel so real when Aria imagined her.

V

The night was awful. Aria sat in her room on the bed. She wasn't even under the covers. She had dressed herself around 3 A.M, but she couldn't sleep at all. It was painful waiting for the time to tick by.

It was September, and thankfully, the night in Iceland would be short. It was after 4 A.M, so she would be out the window of her first floor bedroom and off into the cold late summer morning of Iceland. Although, it was before September 21st, Aria felt like she was facing winter winds.

The tattoo parlor was in walking distance, and Aria almost ran there. She was moving quickly, and she wasn't afraid of standing out because no one was around at this time.

_"Well, I'm glad to see you in a hurry," she heard Ali's voice again. _

"You were the one who encouraged me to go," she answered back.

_"Really," Ali's voice felt teasing again. "It was your decision, and those are your two legs in motion Aria. But don't worry, I bet you and I will have some fun in Iceland. You've only been here for 12 hours, and already you're up to something. It's nice to know that at least one of my friends is never dull." _

The streets became closer together, and the sun was just starting to spread across the lands of Reyjavik's outskirts. There was traffic now running around on the streets, and the houses had so many different colors.

Iceland was brighter than Aria had imagined, and she now walked slower in her winter coat, which started to feel a little warm.

The Dark Focus tattoo parlor was exactly where it was supposed to be. And Aria now felt the need to move slower. She thought Ali would agree.

She stood on the sidewalk of the street, and waited as the cars passed by. Suddenly, there he was. It was almost perfect timing. In a way, it was too perfect. Aria began to feel a sense of chill, and it was not from the Icelandic air.

The man in black, possibly of Asian decent walked into the parlor, and Aria crept closer.

As she looked through the filthy window his back was to her.

The parlor was empty, and there were two couches, and a stack of magazines on a beaten up coffee table.

She watched through the filthy glass as the man knelt to the floor. He was saying something…chanting it, but she wasn't able to make it out. It probably wasn't even in English.

Then the wind began to blow.

The magazines fell to the floor in the tattoo parlor, and the door to the building rattled.

"It's not nice to follow people Aria," she heard the man's voice.

Aria turned and sure enough the man in black was standing behind her. She then peered through the glass, and learned that he was definitely still kneeling by the couch. But it was the same man. The same black clothes, the same leather straps that ran across his chest, it was exactly the same person.

But that was not possible.

"It was not wise of you to be here," said the man in black, before he took her by the shoulders and pushed her inside.

To be Continued...


	2. Chapter 2

AII

VI

Aria in Iceland Part II

The man in the black overcoat shut the door to the dingy, mucky tattoo parlor. It smelled of something agent, and it also felt of cold. But that was not on Aria Montgomery's mind as this stranger slammed the door behind her.

The worst part of it was not that he was holding her inside, but the fact she was looking at two mirror images of him. One was kneeling on the floor. His hands on his knees, and his eyes were closed.

The other was standing right in front of her with an angry looked on his face.

"How did you know my name?" Aria asked weakly.

"How did you know where I was?" He answered.

"I figured it out," she confessed. "My friend….I mean, I figured it out."

"You told a friend," he stammered. "So someone else knows too?"

"No, I just meant my friend Ali," she tried to think of something. "She was really into mysteries. She thought like a detective."

It was a lie, but it seemed to work.

"Dark Focus," said the man in the overcoat. "I suppose most people could deduce that. After all, I did as well."

"I have no idea what you're doing," Aria explained. "I really don't even care."

"If you didn't care, you wouldn't be here," he pointed out. "Please sit down Aria."

"First, tell me how you know my name," she demanded again.

"I said please," he retorted. "Sit down please. I will make the decisions."

Aria gazed at both of the filthy couches in the rotten tattoo parlor, and she uncomfortably sat down and to constantly adjust herself on the uncomfortable sofa.

"I know you're name," he began, "but you do not know mine. My name is Rain."

"Is that your real name?" Aria inquired.

"No," he revealed unsurprisingly. "It was not the name of birth, but it is my name for now. It's the only name that will be of any importance, except…"

"What?" She asked.

He paused, and he appeared to be biting his own tongue to prevent him from saying anything further.

"Do you know why I am here?" Rain asked her.

"No."

"I was following something, which I thought was a lead," he added.

Aria did not like the sound of his voice.

"Are you a detective?" She asked.

Rain laughed a little.

"I used to be something like that," he mentioned. "But I am here on personal business. You asked how I knew your name. Well, names are the reason I am here in Iceland."

Aria's eyes grew wider.

Rain reached into his overcoat, and removed something. It was enclosed in a small brown bag, and then he removed a single object.

It was a book, but not what Aria had expected. This was a normal trade paperback in 4.5 x 7 inch dimensions. It looked ordinary in everyway possible. The cover was completely white, except for the bold black letters that read the title.

**Að eilífu**

**永遠**

**Karen Stone Marcus **

"Can you read what it says?" Rain asked her.

Aria shook her head no.

"The title is 'Forever,'" he informed her. "The Chinese characters were the center of a painting I made eight years ago."

"You're a painter and a detective?" Aria asked dumbfounded.

"Of sorts," Rain almost grunted. "The author's name Karen Stone Marcus on the other hand requires no investigation.

"Firstly, she was my wife. And secondly, she has been dead for nearly 20 years."

VII

Aria Montgomery felt the bizarre slowly settle into her life. She was used to weird, but not like this. She was used to manipulative people, and even her unfaithful father.

But now she was sitting on a filthy couch inside an Icelandic tattoo parlor in front of two men, one standing and one kneeling. Also, the man who called himself Rain claimed that his wife was a novelist, but she figured there was something more that he was trying to tell her.

"So she wrote a novel…in Icelandic," Aria wondered her thoughts out loud.

"It's brand new," Rain announced. "It was just published three months ago. Someone is using my wife's name to release this, Karen Stone Marcus. I've had part of it translated, and it tells the story of young girl named Karen, the same as the author. And she knows too much. There are things in here that only my wife knew."

Aria made a huffing noise.

"Maybe there are two of her," she muttered. "Considering that there is an identical twin of you kneeling on the floor. Who is that your brother or something?"

"Karen didn't have a twin," Rain persisted. "Someone is sending me a message, and I need to find out who. Karen has been dead for almost two decades, and now someone is writing her secrets out in this book under her name…in Icelandic of all languages. Karen was American like you."

Aria felt nauseous. Why was she in the middle of this?

_"Don't be afraid," Ali finally said something positive. "This might be more important than we think."_

"Can't you find out who wrote the book?" Aria asked. "Isn't there anyone that can tell you the real identity?"

"No," Rain denied. "It's all anonymous."

"Well, you said this person is writing about your secrets," continued Aria. "Do they know you have a twin that likes to sit in awkward positions?"

"They know much more than that," Rain sank his words.

VIII

"Why are you in this tattoo shop?" Aria asked the question that might give her some answers.

Rain grabbed the book back from Aria.

He opened it to the first page.

There was a series of lines in Icelandic.

Kæri karl og vinur  
Jafnvel meira til enda  
Óákveðinn greinir í ensku gamall elskhugi kannski  
Rétt áður en hann skyndimynd

Veikburða og dapur  
Aðeins að vitlaus  
Nær brot  
Undir eigin kjölfar hans  
Hljóður fellur hann dauður

"It doesn't make much sense in that language," Rain commented. "In English it's—

Dear man and friend

Always more to the end

Right before he snaps

Kind old lover perhaps

Frail and sad

Only to the mad

Closer to the break

Under his own wake

Silently, he falls dead.

"Dark Focus," said Aria just as he finished. "The first letter of each line. I don't understand."

"It was a silly idea, but I had to try," Rain admitted. "Then I received a letter under my door back in the USA that said the message, which I take it you read. Do not Focus on the Darkness. Whoever sent that knew I wouldn't ignore the darkness. I came to Iceland as soon as I found it."

"Why are you sharing all this with me?" Aria asked at last. "And you never told me how you knew my name?"

"I know your name because I heard your father say it at the airport," he answered.

"Oh," Aria mumbled.

"I am sharing this with you because you are here now," Rain mentioned. "You found me here, so I believe you can find other things. I think you can help."

"Whoa," Aria interjected. "I am just not….you can't be serious. I have no idea what's going on? If you want help, wake up your twin this is frozen on the floor like a statue."

"Do you know how my wife was when I married her?" Rain inquired.

"No," Aria had to answer truthfully.

"We were both 15," he said.

"Ok."

"Do you know how old she was when she died? 15 as well, we were married for a long nine months. Now how old are you Aria?"

"15," she told him, "but that doesn't mean that I know anything."

"But the mind is so sharp at that age," Rain retorted. "Even to this day, I miss the clarity."

A loud crashing sound interrupted Rain's delivery. It made Aria jump off of the couch, and it even made Rain turn to the back of the tattoo shop. The sound had banged liked falling pans in a kitchen.

Aria and Rain approached the scene together. They walked two feet apart across the carpet, and into the back room. There were two chairs set up for tattooing, and most of the room was white. All the metal from the tattoo gun and needles were scattered on the floor.

A scream began to run along Aria's vocal chords, but by the time it made it to her mouth only a gasp emerged.

Sitting in the chair in front of them was a human hand.

It was old and not bleeding, probably stuck in a freezer for months. But it was definitely a woman's. The only thing that stood out more was the piece of white paper on the hand's palm that was lying open for them to read.

It read in English,

Run, Little Girl, Run.

To be continued….


	3. Chapter 3

AII

IX

Part III

"Leave it alone," demanded Rain as he pulled Aria away from the hand that was sitting in a black chair in the Dark Focus tattoo parlor.

As if she had any intention of touching a severed hand that had a note that read "Run, Little Girl, Run."

Aria just wanted to get out of the place. She began to wish she had stayed in the states where things seemed to make sense on some level.

Now that she was in Iceland, things were out of control, but there was Ali had told her there was part of her that always wanted to know.

_"You don't have to run," she heard Ali's voice in her thoughts again. _

"I am getting out of here," said Aria as she entered back into the parlor waiting room. She walked through the door, and was about to head out of the doors and leave Dark Focus forever, but Rain asked her to

"Wait."

_"Take your hand off the door," Ali advised in an ordering fashion. _

Then, Aria found herself waiting for Rain's words. She was breathing quickly, and she began to hear her heart pound in her chest.

All she wanted to do was walk out of the Dark Focus and never look back, but nevertheless, she stood still.

"Are you afraid?" Rain asked her.

"I….I think so," she answered with all the uncertainty in Iceland.

"You are in no danger," he instructed. "Now, we need to leave. I didn't expect to come to Dark Focus for answers. I came here for a lead, and instead I've found a severed hand that has probably been kept in a freezer for weeks….and you."

That was not something that made her want to stay anymore, especially because every time Rain talked, Aria had to look over his shoulder and see the exact duplicate of him sitting on the floor on his knees.

"What are you?" She asked.

"I am a person who needs your help," he told her quickly.

"Can't you do it on your own?" She pondered.

"Four eyes see more than two," he pointed out.

"Then wake that guy on the floor up, and get him to help you."

Rain took a deep breath, and then he began to close his eyes. In a second, Aria blinked and he was gone.

Her eyes turned to the man on the floor. And for the first time since he sat down he began to move. His neck cracked back and forth and then in a flash he jumped up in front of Aria in a single motion.

"Now there is just you and me," the voice was the same as Rain.

"What just happened?" Aria almost shrieked.

"What do you think just happened?" Rain asked her in a perfectly calm voice.

"I think I need to leave."

"Yes," he admitted. "But here take the book."

He held it up then he took out a pen and began to write something down.

"In two days meet me at this address," he proposed. "7 P.M Icelandic Time, now take the book, and if you see anything that might suggest something let me know, please."

Aria paused.

"Why should I?" She asked.

"Because I have answers for you," Rain stated. "I can tell you what you've just seen."

There were no more words between Aria and Rain. She took the book, written in Icelandic and walked out the door.

X

The air was warmer now, and Aria had no idea what time it was. She checked her phone, and saw that it was just after 6 A.M. She still had time to get home before her father would be awake.

He didn't start work at the new university in Iceland until tomorrow, and even then it was just meetings between educators.

He wouldn't be up too early for that.

As Aria walked down the streets that lead back to her townhouse, she finally noticed Iceland.

She had ignored most of the country as she had been consumed with the idea of finding out Rain's identity.

_"So what now Aria?" Ali's presence came to mind. _

As she walked down the streets she began to see Ali next to her in motion. Ali would be dressed in a white winter coat and matching pants. They would be the only two in Reykjavik to dress like January in September.

_"So what now Aria," her friend would tell her. "Are you just going to become some kind of messenger and interpreter for a strange man you met in a tattoo shop?" _

"I don't know Ali," said Aria, mildly confused. "He seems to have a lot of faith in me."

_"Really," Ali began to ramble. "I bet if he were 20 years younger and not so wrapped up with his dead wife, you might be in his bed faster than you think. I mean, so far you've done everything else he's asked."_

Aria wanted to turn away from her and leave, but she knew that was impossible.

"Ali, it's not like that," she defended herself. "There is something going on here. I mean, what just happened isn't possible. I need to know. I just have to. With all the other things that are going ballistic in my life, this is finally something that I can do to get away from it."

_"Even if you didn't have something to get away from," Ali started. "You'd still be doing it."_

Aria could not disagree. She knew it was true. She could never stay away from something like this.

XI

Aria did not even bother to enter in the window she had snuck out of. It had eclipsed her mind altogether.

She walked right in the new front door of her Icelandic townhouse and walked down past her father on the couch, who was reading a newspaper.

She then went to the kitchen to the refrigerator and opened it, looking for caffeine.

"What? No good morning," her father Byron asked her.

"Hi," Aria called from the kitchen with her hand on a can of cola from the fridge.

"So, you want to tell me where you were?" Byron Montgomery asked her with his full-on parenting persona in gear.

"The bookstore," she lied unconvincingly.

"Really," her father said, not buying it.

"Yeah," Aria continued as she opened the can of coke. "Here."

She removed the novel from Rain in her coat pocket.

"Forever," her father read the Icelandic. "So, you left the house before 6 A.M. to buy Icelandic romance novels?"

"I only bought one, and yes."

"Aria, bookstores aren't open before 6 A.M." Byron shot her down.

"It was at the grocery store," she lied again. "I just grabbed something that looked interesting. Since I'm starting to learn Icelandic, I thought I'd have something fun before I take Icelandic for Beginners."

"I read about this one on Amazon," said Byron who was well-versed in most current literature. "Somehow it sneaked into my suggested reading. It's about a woman who's living through some kind of fake memoir. But if that's what you want to read, don't let me stop you. But I'm warning you, she uses some big fancy words."

The pressure of lying to her father had subsided. It seemed he was buying her story at last.

"So is your new schedule in order?" Byron asked her. "Iceland International High School starts tomorrow at 7."

"I'm ready," she told him. "First class is European Literature, then math, then Icelandic for Beginners. I think I might learn a few words in the book by then."

"That's my girl," said Byron. "And thank you for making the adjustment. I wanted more time for us to get settled before you started at a new school, but well…things were just rushed. I just wish you had more than 30 hours to get used to a new country. But don't worry. Iceland International as I hear has lots of American and European students that are just as culture shocked as you are."

"As long as they all speak English," Aria hoped and she smiled to her dad.

"I'm going to lay down for a little while."

Byron nodded, and Aria left the room. It was weird. She felt as if she had a decent conversation with him. It had only lasted five seconds, but she was able to look at him and not picture that blonde skank in the back of his car.

It felt comforting, especially since earlier that morning someone had gone to the trouble of chopping off a human hand just to scare her. Now, she didn't feel anymore fear. Something just felt safe at the moment.

And now, every time Aria looked in the mirror, she saw a blonde figure of her own.

Alison DiLaurentis, her close friend for so long was now a part of her.

Aria knew that Ali was not really there, but it felt so real. It was almost….no, it was impossible for….

It just felt real.

Aria felt that it was too strong. When she imagined Ali, they were more than memories.

Ali was alive and well inside her mind, and she would not be leaving any time soon.

XII

_"So where do begin Aria?" Ali asked. _

Aria was sitting on her bed, and still had yet to decorate anything in the blank room. She was holding the copy of "Forever," by Karen Stone Marcus, and she wondered what was hidden inside the pages of Icelandic, which she could not yet understand.

"What do you think we should do?" Aria asked Ali.

_"Well, perhaps this guy Rain is only testing you," she thought. "I mean, maybe he just wants to see what would happen if he tells you to do things. You know he wanted to drop that paper, so you'd follow him to the Dark Focus, so why wouldn't he just want you to do what he says long enough for him to get into your pants."_

"What?" Aria almost laughed. "That's not how he is. If he had wanted anything like that, he would have tried something this morning when we were alone."

_"Maybe he's a hunter," Ali went on, "just waiting for the right moment, and then he'll attack. And what is the deal with him and his body? One second there are two identical versions of him, and the next he morphs into one. It's like he separates his body, but only one part of him works. That is the dumbest superpower ever." _

"He's not a superhero," Aria stood up for Rain. "And I don't know what we saw back there, but I think there is more to it than that."

_"Well, what are you going to find in the book?" Ali proposed the question of the day._

"I don't know," Aria said for the hundredth time. "What would you do? You've been talking me through everything else."

_"So, we've got a book in a language, you don't understand," Ali evaluated. "And you need to find out who is spreading secrets about this man named Rain. Somebody also knows that you're going to help him, and they told you to run. But why are you running?" _

"But where would I run to?" Aria furthered her questions.

_"Anywhere as long as it's away from Rain, I suppose. But I wonder if the person who left you the message 'run, little girl, run,' already knows you won't. So if you're not going to run, just open the book." _

"Where to?"

_"Read the titles of the chapters," Ali advised. _

The book entitled "Forever," flipped open, and Aria glanced at several pages of writing. The only thing she understood was the name Karen Stone Marcus. But then there was a list of words in Icelandic.

1. Elskan Mín

2. Litla Stelpa

3. Vinsamlegast

4. Ekki Horfa

5. Í Spegill

"Only five chapters," said Aria. "Or it's like there are five sections."

_"Good job girl," Aria congratulated her unemotionally. "Now plug that into your google translator, and see what you've got." _

Aria slowly typed in the words on her phone, taking diligent time to make the Icelandic accent marks.

She came up with,

1. My Dear

2. Little Girl

3. Please

4. Do Not Look

5. In the Mirror

XIII

_"They know you'll want to look," Ali told Aria._

Aria glanced around her new room, and there was a brown and white dresser against the door-side wall.

On top was an attached mirror, three feet wide.

Aria stood up and started into the mirror. The only thing that surprised her was that she could not see Ali's reflection standing next to her. She had convinced herself that Ali would be there, but she was alone.

"Hey kiddo," called Byron as he entered the room. "Who have you been talking to?"

"Myself," she told him. "I was just reading the book out loud, and I was guessing what some of the words mean."

"Sounds good," her father encouraged. "Well, I'll leave you to it."

And just like that her father was out of the room, and Aria was back in the mirror.

"I am looking in the mirror," she said out loud. "And so far, I'm still here."

_"Knock on wood," Ali chillingly joked. "So you want to learn more? What's the next thing you're going to do?"_

"I'm going to find out who Karen Stone Marcus really is."

…to be continued.


	4. Chapter 4

Part IV

XIV

The hallways of Iceland International High School were about as dull as Aria's undecorated room. They were uninviting and lacked color.

She walked around, a little nervous especially with her class schedule out, obviously making it know to everyone that she was the new student. She was wearing all black too, which she did quite frequently, however, she kept getting funny looks from people, so she wasn't sure if it was because she was new or because the black jersey material she had for sleeves stood out.

But her mind was not on the white walls and the tiny blue lockers of Iceland International.

She was thinking about Mrs. Marcus.

All the information on Karen Stone Marcus posted online was mostly about the novel, "Forever."

But there was very little. There was not even a good description of the events in the novel. Aria could have asked her father to read some of it to her, but she didn't want him to know what was going on.

It took her nearly two hours to find someone in the world with the name Karen Stone Marcus that was not related to the novelist. She was only able to secure two news articles. The rest had probably never made it to the internet.

Aria read that she was a fifteen-year old High School student from Seattle Washington, who nine months after entering into a spiritual marriage with another teenager was shot and killed during a gang-involved incident. The was known as "Los Guerreros," and later that year all 28 of the gang members were found dead as well. There was no mention of the name of Karen's husband.

The first class of the day had been European Literature, and although, Aria had read many of the novels on the reading list, she found the teacher Dr. Kuznetsova to be a horrible drag.

Dr. Kuznetsova came from outside Tver Russia, and she bragged about her Ph.D in Nordic Languages and Literature, but Aria could only wonder why she was trapped in an English language High School. When she spoke English, she sounded like a typical nutcase, but when she read poems in Icelandic and Norwegian, her voice was clear and sharp.

The class ended, and Aria escaped most of the embarrassing moments involved with the first class on the first day. She didn't even have to stand up and introduce herself.

She grabbed her bag and headed out the door, until she was stopped by the boy who had sat behind her.

"Hey, Aria is it," he said in a comforting American accent.

He was five inches taller than her, and also wearing all black, the only exception was the brown jacket that was open and unzipped. His hair was blonde but dark, and his eyes were blue. The face was smooth, and he looked like he was a guy that thought about things a lot.

"I just wanted to say thank you," he told her.

"For what?" Aria asked him.

"Now, I am not the only American in European Literature," he smiled. "I'm Wolfgang."

He pronounced it like Volfgang, instead of the soft W sound.

"That doesn't sound typically American," Aria replied, but not in a mean way.

"Okay, you caught me. I should have expected that," Wolfgang admitted. "I'm German-American. I was born in Bremen…you know Deutschland. The family stayed there for five years, and then we spent the last 12 in a place called Eugene, Oregon."

"West coaster?" She asked.

It was just great to meet someone who was mildly familiar with American life.

"What brought your family to Iceland?" She continued the conversation.

"When we old-fashioned Germans migrate, it's either for money or new farmland," he explained. "This is both. My dad is working for the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture. He's a certified genius I swear. He's using some new technology for cold weather climates. I know nothing about it really. What about you?"

"My dad as well," Aria spoke the truth. "He's not a fish and farm guy, but he's going to be a professor at the University of Reykjavik, for American Lit and some other stuff."

She did not feel like bringing up the fact that they were basically running from their problems back home.

"So you're from Oregon?" She furthered. "Did you follow the news a lot there?"

"Yeah, I did," he answered. "Morning paper every day since I was 13 I guess."

"It's just…." She needed something to say. "I bought this book, and I was trying to read about the author, Karen Stone Marcus. And I came across these reports about a woman with that name murdered in Seattle."

"That's rough," Wolfgang consoled. "But I've never heard of it. So many murders in the U.S. anyway, it's really tragic. Iceland is so much better in that right. Murder feels like an American thing after 9 months here."

"Ah, well I was just curious about it," Aria added. "Well, I'm off to Math."

"With Pablo Suarez?" Wolfgang inquired.

"Um," Aria checked her schedule. "Yeah, wow…that doesn't sound very Icelandic. What's up with that?"

"This is Iceland International," Wolfgang informed her. "All the teachers are from abroad. Only the administrators are Icelandic, and Pablo Suarez is from Paraguay. Call him Pablo, not Mister."

"Will do," Aria admitted. "Then, I've got Icelandic for Beginners."

"And I'm in the same boat," Wolfgang announced. "You see most of the people get put it in the same block of classes. You'll recognize almost all of us because we're beginners in Icelandic. They clump us together because we're at the same level."

"So 9 months in Iceland, and you're still a beginner with the language," she pointed out.

"Don't be silly," joked Wolfgang. "I'm probably near fluent. I just failed the annual placement exam on purpose. Now, I'm in line for an easy hour."

"You speak Icelandic then?" She asked.

"More or less."

"Wolfgang, what are you doing at lunch?" She asked.

XV

The next breezed by for Aria, as she waited for lunchtime to show Wolfgang the book. Pablo Suarez was an extremely likable math teacher, and Mrs. Tennyson, the Icelandic teacher was not even from Iceland. She was English, and she claimed that she was the teacher of the course because she knew what it was like to learn Icelandic as a foreign language.

The cafeteria at Iceland International had three outdoor tables that no one used. Wolfgang explained to Aria that no one was accustomed to sitting there because of the winters that quickly in.

Aria sat with Wolfgang on the table, as she asked him to read some of the novel by Karen Stone Marcus.

Wolfgang took the book in his hands, and he glanced over the blank cover.

He opened it to the place where the first chapter began, and he read silently to himself for a second. Then, he switched to English for Aria.

"The first sentence is 'I died on the 14th of June," he translated. "Hmm, that's a pleasant way to start. Hey, didn't you say you saw that there was someone with this name that was murdered? Maybe you just read the plot summary by mistake."

Aria knew that couldn't be true.

_"But what if he is right?" Ali's presence came to her mind. "What if Rain is nothing more than a light drizzle?" _

Aria didn't want to think about that, she was more focused on the opening line that made so much sense to her.

"What's next?" She asked Wolfgang.

He read:

"I died on the 14th June, beneath the arms of my lover. And from that point onward, life on Earth is nothing more than a memory. The sights, the sounds, the feelings bring me to a state of confusion. It feels like I'm dreaming, and I wish I knew I wasn't dead."

He paused.

"At least I think I am getting this right," Wolfgang warned her. "Remember, I am not a native with this."

"Keep going," Aria begged.

"The one thing I can't forget is the man that was holding me during my death. My true love that conquered distance and time to meet me in Destiny, he stood by my side until Death did we part. As I enter this next set of feelings all I have is the memory of the man I loved and my last instinct as a girl."

Wolfgang shut the book.

"Ugh," he grunted. "I know you couldn't read it when you bought it, but this is some lame stuff. It's just not my style at all, not at all."

Aria was not wondering about the quality of the intro. Instead, she knew there must be some meaning trapped in there. Already, she could see some frustration that Rain was experiencing.

The person writing this was pretending to be his dead wife, and they had been sending him clues, almost like teasers. The feeling came over her as she knew there must be some instinct.

The trick was the novel started right when Karen's life on Earth came to an end. Aria figured the book would recount the actions that Rain and her experienced in their life, and it would tell me deep personal secrets that only a husband and wife would know.

But then again, she remembered her own mother, who allegedly had no knowledge of her father's affair.

The question was, how well did Rain and Karen truly know each other?

"So why this book?" Wolfgang asked. "Are you just really into cheap romance novels with super womanly internal monologue?"

"Um, no," Aria scowled. "I just wanted to know what it said."

Wolfgang began to flip through the book, just staring at random pages, then suddenly he stopped.

"Did you see something?" Aria questioned.

Wolfgang pulled a small piece of paper from page 78. It was an inch long, but there was typing on it.

"What is that?" Aria kept asking. "Is it written in Icelandic?"

"No," said Wolfgang. "It's German. It says 'Du hast gesehen.'"

"What does that mean?"

"I means, 'you looked.'" He told her.


	5. Chapter 5

AII

XVI

Part 5

"I should go," said Aria to her newest acquaintance.

"Wait a second," Wolfgang stopped her, surprised at how startled she was. "What's wrong? It's just a piece of paper with German on it."

"And I just happen to sitting with a German-speaker in Iceland?" Aria shot back. "Too much of a coincidence."

Wolfgang was trying not to laugh.

"You are really going to let a little coincidence scare you?" He expressed. "Why are you jumpy about this book? I mean, I understand that you probably like girly novels, but this is probably just some trade paperback pushed out of a printing press, so people can make money. I mean, it probably won't change her life."

Aria could already feel the irony in his statement. The book, "Forever," was most likely going to have more of an impact than Wolfgang thought.

Rain had trusted her to find out something, but she had not found out much at all. Other than the title of the chapters, and that someone was still almost completely certain that Aria Montgomery was trying to find them.

"You're right," Aria nodded to Wolfgang. "Perhaps I am being a little too jumpy about it. It is just a book after all. I just well….I just wanted to know more about it. So, I guess I'll go see you tomorrow during first period. I'll be excited for European Literature."

"You will?" Wolfgang asked. "And you haven't eaten lunch yet."

"Not much of an appetite," she lied.

Aria walked away from Wolfgang, and she had three more classes during the day, but right now all she wanted to know was the secrets that were hidden in the book. She was in Icelandic for Beginners, so she had an Icelandic-English dictionary, and as she walked away, she realized there must be something she could find.

She was supposed to meet this person named Rain tomorrow night at 7, and right now she had nothing.

Also Karen Stone Marcus had written the chapters of the book in a way that showed said "My Dear Little Girl Please Do Not Look In The Mirror."

Aria had indeed looked in the mirror, but there had to be more meaning to the message than that.

_"So what are you thinking?" Ali asked her. _

"I have no idea Ali," Aria spoke the truth.

_ "Maybe it's not so complicated Aria," she said. _

"Really, how's that?" Aria questioned.

_"Well, what mirror is Mrs. Marcus talking about?" Ali proposed an idea. "What are the odds that she actually means the mirror in your bedroom?"_

"At this point I wouldn't have been surprised at all," Aria almost mumbled. "This has gotten so weird already. I would not be surprised what people can do."

_"Well, look at this way Aria," Ali continued. "Where else do you think you could find the mirror?" _

Aria stopped walking, and she even looked around. Of course, she would not see anything that would be a helpful clue.

"I have no idea," she began. "Maybe the reflection in a pond, or the back of a metal can. I don't know."

_"You're silly," Ali taunted her once again. "Look in the book. She wants you to look in the book. She told you that "you looked," you've already got the names of the chapters. The last one was In the Mirror." _

"Oh, I suppose I should have thought that on my own," Aria realized.

_"It's okay Aria," said Ali. "Two minds are better than one." _

And then she imagined Ali walk behind her, and Ali's hand came up and stroked her hair. Aria felt it just barely. And she was startled once again, and she turned around and there was no one there.

_"What's the matter are you ticklish?" Ali's voice came. _

Aria turned around, and on her opposite side it was if Ali was really standing there. The colors of her face were so vivid, and she was still wearing that sharp white winter suit.

_"Emily would probably have gone crazy if I had stroked…well any part of her," she giggled. _

"What are you talking about?"

Aria imagined her friend Emily Fields from back home. Emily was tall, and had darker skin, and extremely beautiful.

But when Aria imagined Emily there was no feeling. She remembered Emily dearly, but she could not sense her the way she sensed Ali.

_"It's okay," Ali comforted her. _

And then, Aria felt Ali's fingers come up and take her hand, and they began to walk away from the high school together.

Ali's grip was almost too tight.

XVII

Aria and Ali had spent the lunch hour together just walking around, and Aria began to feel less afraid of the life-like memories of her blonde, charming friend Alison DiLaurentis.

The next three classes passed, and Aria did not see Wolfgang in them. Although, he was on her mind.

She was at home in her living room, next to her father who was reading through notes from the lectures he was planning on American Literature.

"Are you still flipping through that book?" Byron Montgomery asked her.

"Yeah, it's only been a day, a day and a half really," said Aria.

"I know," her father defended. "But I could never put more than 20 minutes into a book that I didn't understand.

"I've been translating some of the words with my dictionary," she held up the book as evidence.

"That's my student, but make sure you focus on your other classes too like Literature," her father the professor declared.

"Of course Dad," said Aria. "Look I just made a full sentence. Hann hélt alltaf hníf í vasa gegn hjarta sínu. He always kept a knife in a pocket over his heart."

"Close," Byron congratulated. "Against his heart. Gegn means against, which to me seems like a lousy place to keep a knife."

Aria got up and sat closer to her father. She was tired of not talking about the business with Rain. She wanted to tell someone so badly, but she couldn't reveal everything, or anything for that matter.

"Dad," she began. "Have you ever seen something, I mean…something that just could not be possible? It was earlier in this book that a person….well, let's just say he could do things that were not possible in real life."

"Well Aria, it is fiction," Byron unknowingly pointed out.

"I know Dad," she countered. "But have you ever seen anything like that? I mean, in your life."

Byron put down his materials and gave Aria his full attention.

"I guess so," he almost muttered. "When, I was camping once. I went alone. It was really late, and I had to get up to….relieve nature if you will. And as I walked outside, I saw an orange light off in the woods behind my tent. It looked a lantern, so I decided to keep walking onward.

"The light did not move, and I even called to ask if someone was there. After walking for 20 feet, I saw it was coming from behind a bush, but when I walked around there was nothing there, no lantern, no person, no light. I went right back to the tent, but I felt a little like Moses. Is that what you were asking about?"

Aria looked down at the floor and just said,

"Not really," she laughed a little. "There is this guy in the book, one of the characters. And it says he was able to sort of duplicate his body."

"Like cloning?" Byron asked.

"No, more like..I'm not really sure how to say it," she went on, "but making his body appear in two places at once."

Byron just giggled at her.

"Now that Aria is pure fiction."

That was the end of that discussion.

XVIII

Most of the night had been devoted to reading the book and translating little fragments of the chapter "In the Mirror." The story from she had gathered was about a dead woman wanting to communicate with lover after they had been separated. The lover did not have a name, and nor did the narrator. In English class years ago, Aria had remembered that if the narrator is not named, you can use the author's name, and see if it fits.

That was what Rain had done.

Aria sat at her desk in the room skimming the pages; although, she didn't understand much.

_"What's new?" Ali asked, who was laying on the bed. _

"Well, I've got some more of Rain's bizarre personal issues," commented Aria. "And my dad once saw a weird light in the forest."

_"Learn anything Aria?" Ali said smiling. _

"No," she replied. "Nothing helpful anyway, just the man she talks about in the book seems so inhuman. Like, who carries a knife right against their chest? That is just weird.

_"Tell me about what your dad saw," Ali requested._

"There's nothing to tell," admitted Aria. "He saw a light in the forest, and there was nothing there."

_"Tell it to me the way he told you," Ali requested a second time, only her voice was more commanding. _

"Okay, chill out," Aria eased off. "He said, he saw an orange light in the forest when he was alone. Then, he went up to find out where it was coming from, and once he found it there was nothing there."

_"Once he found it there was nothing there," Ali repeated. _

"What are you trying to tell me?" Begged Aria, for she could sense that Ali was onto something.

_"If you keep looking for Karen Stone Marcus, she will keep disappearing. You'll turn your head around the bush, and there will be nothing there. Just remind yourself that you are in your father's position, searching for the light in the forest. Do you know what your father did wrong?" _

"What?" Aria asked.

_"He should have let the light come to him," proposed Ali. "Think of it this way Aria. This person is messing with you. Every time you've tried to find her, she's been one step ahead. _

_ "You walked in the Dark Focus, she left a message for you. You found someone to translate the book for you, she left a message for you. You don't know how to find her, but she knows how to find you. Beat her at her own game, do nothing and let her come to you." _

Aria got up and walked away.

"Are you serious Ali?" She confronted her. "Are you really serious? That's what you're telling me."

_"Yes, I am serious Aria. I am really serious. That is what I am seriously telling you."_

"You've been coaching me into doing all this from the beginning," Aria ranted. "You told me to get into this. You told me to go to Dark Focus, and you told me to look in the mirror. Now you're saying that I did it all wrong? Well, then why did you tell me to do it like that?"

Ali smiled, and she did not seem nerved at all by what Aria had said.

_"Aria, your memory seems to be flawed," she informed her. "I didn't tell you to do anything. I only told you know what we both already know, that you couldn't stay away, and that you were going to look in the mirror. You wanted to do all of that, and don't blame me for Aria's silly desires." _

"Whatever," Aria mumbled at her. "Now I have barely anything for Rain tomorrow night."

Ali got up from the bed.

_"You have the chapter, and you have the German message," said Ali. "You're right, it's not much, but that's what you've got. And take your new boy toy Vulfgahng with you." _

"Wolfgang?" Aria repeated. "Are you serious? Why?"

_"Oh, I don't know," Ali rambled onward, "perhaps because you're going to meet up with a 35 year old man, and it would be a good idea not to go alone. Because now you can prepare for it now, just think what would happen if American girl, Aria Montgomery gets abducted and murdered after only 3 days in Iceland? Diane Sawyer would turn you into a goldmine." _

"Well, you would know all about mysterious disappearances," Aria scolded Ali.

_"You're right, I do know a lot about it, more than you at least."_

The presence of Ali was really starting to take a toll on Aria's mind, and the feeling had gotten stronger. Before Ali had just felt like a voice in her head, now she was as real as Aria herself.

"I must be going crazy," Aria muttered, regarding her conversations with Ali.

The lights in the house went out.

Everything went black and dark.

"Aria, it's okay, just a power outage," Byron called.

Aria was not worried actually, until the window in her room shattered.

She screamed a little and jumped back.

Aria, then scrambled to the window to see what had happened. She looked out and saw a figure running away into the early night. In Iceland, it was still rather bright.

The figure she saw was from behind, but it definitely looked feminine. The person had long blonde hair, and was wearing all white.

Aria looked around the room, and saw that it had been a brick that had gone through the window, attached with a rubber band and a piece of paper.

She picked it up fast and removed it.

I WAS RIGHT, it read.

"Ali," said Aria, but this time there was no voice to answer.


	6. Chapter 6

AII

Part 6

XIX

"What happen?" Byron called again as he entered the room to find the broken glass on the floor.

Swiftly, Aria had slid the note into her pocket.

"Someone threw a brick through the window," she informed him as she pointed to the brick on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Byron asked as he hugged his daughter.

"I am fine," Aria answered numbly.

"Did you see what happened?" Bryon inquired with urgency.

"No, I was just reading and the brick broke the glass."

That statement was not really a lie.

"I didn't see anything," Aria added.

Now that was a lie. She failed to mention that she had seen a figure, dressed exactly like Ali had been running away from the new Montgomery townhouse.

"I'm just glad you weren't hurt," Byron continued. "Hey, you sleep in my room upstairs, and I am taking the couch for the night. Just bring your school books. I am going to get the power back on, and then clean up the class. I'll probably have to call the police."

"No," Aria denied his idea, but she wasn't sure why.

"Aria I am not going to just let somebody throw a brick through my daughter's window," he stood by his claim. "Now wait in the kitchen, while I get the power back on and make the call."

XX

That night had not been pleasant. Aria had not stayed downstairs for the police to come and do whatever they did.

She heard lots of yelling from her father in Icelandic, and it was too easy to guess what they were saying. They were telling him there was nothing they could do.

Her father's room was much smaller than hers, and that was the reason why she was on the first floor, the bigger room.

Byron Montgomery's room was much more furnished. The furniture was all maple, and the walls had been painted green of all colors, sitting in there made her feel like she was in a hunting lodge or a cabin in the forest.

Overall, it was kind of nice.

But it was not enough to overpass the feeling of loneliness that was now part of her. The feeling that Ali had left on her made her feel like there was someone always there, always watching her through every step of the way.

Now she missed her friends at home more than ever.

Spencer, Hanna, and Emily were so far away, off living their own lives, but then Aria wondered if they were being haunted by weird visions of Alison the way she was.

Was Ali that deeply engrained into all of them?

Probably to some extent, but Aria began to doubt that they were feeling this strong of a connection.

Aria was tired of thinking, and she was tired of the night. She just wanted some sleep, and maybe when she woke up the world would be normal again.

She placed the copy of "Forever," by Karen Stone Marcus on her father's Maplewood nightstand, and then she turned out the light.

XXI

Aria's eyes opened, and the black alarm clock across the room read 3:31.

"Crap," she said bitterly, as she had only slept for just over four hours.

She turned on the light, and rubbed her eyes as she tried to readjust to the brightness. Her instincts told her eyes to look at the white book, which she had treated as a bible over the last few days.

There was nothing there.

Aria felt around the nightstand, but the novel was gone. She looked around it, and then under the bed, but there was nothing there. She even checked under her pillow, but still she couldn't find anything.

There was a small drawer on the nightstand that was only an inch deep, but she knew she would never have put it in there.

She opened the small drawer and there was novel, but instead a single sheet of paper.

My Dear Little Girl,

Can you resist the temptation?

12010 Starmyri

Now

KSM

Under the piece of paper

And just that Aria went reaching for her shoes.

She was threw on a pair sweatpants over her pajamas, and was about to head downstairs to grab her coat, but she stopped.

She was going to go, but there were things that needed to be dealt with first.

Her father was asleep on the couch, and secondly, she had been approaching everything blindly from the start. This time she was going to think things out before she went after it.

What did she already know from Karen Stone Marcus?  
What clues had she received before?

Dark Focus

Run. Little Girl. Run.

My Dear Little Girl Please Do Not Look In The Mirror

Du Hast Gesehen (You Looked)

I Was Right.

Can You Resist The Temptation?

There must be something that linked them all together.

If Ali had been there, she would have once again told Aria that she couldn't resist the Temptation, and Ali was right.

But what was it?

Was it another letter puzzle? The first letter of each line of the clues was DRMDIC , and that was no word that Aria recognized.

Not a letter puzzle, and she had beaten the chapter entitled "In the mirror" almost to the end.

There had to be a connection. Karen or KSM as she had signed it would not be sending her these messages if there was no meaning.

"No," she said again to the empty room.

Although, Ali and Aria had parted on unfortunate circumstances, she knew that what Ali had said had been right.

Aria wanted nothing more than to jump out the window and run to the address posted in the note, but Ali had a point.

She didn't have to do what KSM said. There was nothing forcing her to go to the address on the note.

Aria sat back down on her father's bed.

It was difficult, but she had to do it. She slipped out of her sweatpants and crawled under the covers.

She would have to wait until the next day to act. It was unbearable to wait, but what was more unbearable was the thought that someone had made their way into the room, stolen her book, and left a note in the room all without her knowing.

How could someone get into her room and open the drawer in the room next to her?

Either she was a heavier sleeper than she thought, or it was a ghost that had entered. This whole time, she had wondered if the voice and image of Ali she had seen had been a ghost.

But was Ali even dead yet? She couldn't let herself think about that.

She knew only time would answer that question.

Aria was now in bed again, and waiting for the next day. She was not looking forward to it.

XXII

It was 6:50 in the evening, and Aria had told her father, Byron, that she was going to have dinner with a new friend, and that he was in her class.

It was deceptive, but then again, almost completely truthful. Aria walked along the street in the cold autumn air with Wolfgang trailing a step behind her, still in his tan jacket.

If Aria let him walk side-by-side, she was worried he might try and reach for her hand. In her mind Wolfgang seemed almost too pleased when she asked him to meet another friend for dinner.

In all honesty, Aria was just following the address Rain had given her, and as they walked down the street, they saw him waiting for her in front of a coffee shop.

Rain was dressed exactly as before, except this time he was wearing a pair of dark non-reflective sunglasses.

He did not look happy to see Wolfgang tagging along.

"That's your friend?" Wolfgang whispered cautiously.

"He's not actually my friend," Aria explained. "I should have been clearer."

"He looks like his right out of a bad Matrix parody," said Wolfgang.

Wolfgang did not look happy to see Rain either.

Rain removed his sunglass and slid them into the pocket on his black coat.

"And who is this?" Rain asked with a clear distaste.

"This is Wolfgang," Aria introduced him. "And Wolfgang this is Rain."

"Is that your real name?" Wolfgang instantly asked just as Aria had.

"No," he answered with even more distaste.

"Is there a reason or purpose why you are here?" Rain asked Wolfgang.

"Yeah," Wolfgang almost laughed. "I am here because, she asked me to be. She didn't think visiting a 35 year old man, who socializes with girls 20 years younger than him alone, was a good idea."

"Fair enough," Rain agreed. "You look hungry Wolfgang. Perhaps, I can buy you a muffin."

And then, he turned and walked inside waiting for them to follow.

XXIII

The giant carrot and wheat muffin sat between Wolfgang and Rain. Wolfgang wasn't eating it, but Aria could not help notice they were just trying to avoid eye contact with each other.

Aria was just silent. It was a time like this that she wished she could hear Ali's voice to distract her from the awkwardness.

"So what do you know?" Rain said to both of them.

"I know you gave Aria a book, and you want her to decode messages," Wolfgang responded before Aria could.

She really did not think that Wolfgang was aware that Rain was not as polite as he seemed, and she wasn't sure if he was going to flip the table over and break the German's neck.

The last time she had seen Rain, someone had left an amputated hand waiting for them. Rain and Wolfgang were not exactly on equal planes.

"You are correct," Rain acknowledged; although, it was clearly useless to Rain. "Now Aria what did you find?"

"Wolfgang told me he could read Icelandic," Aria began, "so I gave him the novel. And as soon as he started flipping through it, we found a message in German. He's German by the way."

"What did it say?" Rain asked.

"You looked," Aria answered. "Then there are the chapters in the book."

"My Dear Little Girl Please Don't Look In The Mirror," Rain finished her sentence.

"Exactly, the night after I learned that, that's what I found," she went on, "In the Mirror is the last chapter of the book, or section or whatever."

"I've read the chapter," said Rain. "And nothing stands out immediately, but I read it in English. I had a private translation. My Icelandic is not as proficient as I would like."

"I don't understand Rain," Aria announced. "Why is it written to me? These messages that this KSM is sending you, why does it feel like it's connected to me? Until 3 days ago, I didn't know that you or KSM existed. First, it's Run Little Girl Run, and now someone broke into my house and stole the book last night. They left a note and Also, they left a message in German for my German friend. It's almost as if this person is predicting the future."

"That's not possible Aria," Wolfgang tried to console her.

"KSM left me this note," Aria mentioned as she removed the note from her pocket.

My Dear Little Girl,

Can you resist the temptation?

12010 Starmyri

Now

KSM

"I didn't go," she made sure to say. "I wanted to make sure, she couldn't predict the future."

"People can't predict the future," Rain added. "But they can be one step ahead, and they can figure things out faster than we can. It's that old saying of knowing you better than you know yourself. And that's what someone is doing to me. So now, tell me Aria, has anything else happened to you lately that does not seem right, anything else that seems out of the ordinary?"

Aria knew exactly what she should say.

The visions of Alison DiLaurentis had been her closest companion for the last three days in Iceland. It was definitely not something that normal to her life, but should she tell Rain and Wolfgang?

The visionary Ali had ridiculed her to no end, almost as much as her memories of Ali from back home, but for some reason, she felt a stronger connection to Ali than she did with the two gentleman at her table.

"Someone threw a brick through my window," Aria told the truth.

If she had simply said, no she doubted Rain would have believed her.

"And there was a message attached to it," Aria continued. "It said. 'I was right.'"

"What did you do next?" Rain asked.

"I went to bed in my dad's room," she explained.

"Is that it?" Rain wanted to know.

"Yes."

"Good work," he said. "By now you can see that this KSM as you called her wants you to become a puppet, and it's good that you did not do what was asked, especially going to the address that was left in the book."

Wolfgang seemed rather uncomfortable about the whole conversation, or possibly he seemed rather bored.

"So what do we do next?" He asked.

"It's simple," said Rain. "We go to 12010 Starmyri, and don't worry no harm will come."

Aria prayed that statement was not a lie.

XXIII

The walk had taken nearly half an hour, and Rain was two paces ahead of Aria and Wolfgang. Rain was completely silent, but Wolfgang was rather talkative.

"I think you are insane," he scolded Aria in a grown-up manner.

"I think comments like that are unnecessary," she said back. "And if I'm so insane, why are you walking right next to me?"

They walked downed the perfectly clean sidewalk, and as they kept moving there was almost no one around. The more they walked the less people seemed to be present. The sun was still shining high in the blue sky over Iceland.

The was colder than it had been, and this was one of the few times that Aria had been without her winter jacket, which she had clung to for the first two days in the new country.

She was tempted to ask Wolfgang for his jacket, but as soon as her mouth opened to ask the question, she stopped. Then, she figured what the hell?

"I'm kind of cold," she informed him softly, almost hoping that Rain would not hear, not that it mattered if he did. "Could I borrow that jacket for a while?"

"Of course," he replied instantly and removed the jacket.

He even took the liberty of securing it around her body, which Aria thought was a little much. However, at the same time it was comforting in a way.

"We have arrived," the voice of Rain came calling back.

And there was the building with the address KSM had left for them. It did not look like most of the other buildings in Reykjavik. It was all made of cheap red bricks, which were barely holding it together.

The building was definitely a house at one time. It resembled a giant cube, and the roof was a flat-top. It also looked abandoned. There were six windows on the front of the building, and two of them were broken.

Aria watched Rain glance at the scenery and then he walked right inside, didn't even bother to knock. But of course, Aria would have done the same. If she had knocked, no one would have answered.

Aria moved to follow him.

"Wait a second," Wolfgang stopped Aria. "You don't have to do this. Just because he wants to go inside, doesn't mean you have to. There is a lot you don't know about this guy."

"Oh, and I know so much about you," Aria countered.

Then, she took a step forward and entered the brick house. The floor was wooden each step made a creaking sound.

"I'll be waiting right here," Wolfgang called from the doorway.

So he wasn't the knight in shining armor type. It was official.

"What is this place?" Aria asked Rain.

There was no furniture inside, only a fireplace, rotting wooden staircase, and a setting a kitchen off in the distance.

"It looks like the house where I grew up," Rain answered. "On the inside I mean. We had against the back wall like this one here, and the stairs look exactly the same."

"Are you from Iceland?" She inquired.

"No, Seattle," he said. "I was born in China, but I lived in Seattle….well, ever since. But this is exactly like my old house in Washington. When my brother was 10 he fell down these stairs, had a huge cut on his face. And I tried to seal it shut with masking tape and a dishtowel. It almost worked."

He laughed a little as his hands ran along the banister.

Then, the banister fell off and landed to the floor.

"It must have been really old," Rain muttered.

The wind began to blow through the broken windows and flecks of plaster and dirt were stirring around inside the house.

"It's filthy in here," Aria almost cringed as a swirl of dust hit her in the face.

In a single second the top step of the staircase shattered and from it erupted an a mass explosion.

They were loose leaf pages, and they looked like they came out of a spiral notebook. The torn paper edges were clearly shown.

Rain was like a statue as the pages blew around them, but Aria was reaching through the mass of cyclonic wind trying to pull them all down.

"What's going on?" Wolfgang called as he entered the room. "Mein Gott. What is this?"

As soon as the wind had blown the pages around, Aria knew it was the book. It was the original writings of "Forever" by KSM.

The papers began to fall to the ground, and she held many of them in her hands.

These pages were different. One quick glance was all it took for Aria to see the difference, for she could read and understand them. They were written in English. And in her hands was a page with the heading.

In The Mirror

Wolfgang began picking up the pages too and reading through them as well.

Aria read little pieces of the lines on notebook paper, written by hand in perfect print. But as she read, she felt tenser and more frightened. She turned to Rain, who was standing as still as he was when the pages exploded from the staircase.

"How many people have you killed?" She asked.


End file.
